Sustainable Business Programs & Resources

BEN Programs and Resources

BEN has facilitated numerous opportunities for businesses to access programs, funding and support to become more competitive and resource efficient in conjunction with Enterprise Connect, State and Local Government partners, Sustainability Victoria, CSIRO, the Victorian Employers' Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI), Genesis Now, the Waste Management Association of Australia (WMAA) and through Council itself. Current programs include:

Northern GreenLight Program

Hume Light$mart Energy Efficient Lighting Program

ASPIRE Industrial Ecology Project

Northern GreenLight Program- take your business to the next level

The Northern GreenLight Program is a holistic group program designed to support more resource efficient, competitive and innovative enterprises. It is facilitated by ECO2sys, leaders in business diagnostics and sustainable programs for business. Based on the excellent results achieved through the first Northern GreenLight Program in conjunction with Hume, Whittlesea and Darebin Councils, a second program is on offer to businesses across Hume, Darebin and Moreland. The Northern GreenLight Program is 50% co-funded by the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources through the Grow Your Business Group Programs.

Hume Light$mart Energy Efficient Lighting Program

Based on the City of Darebin's successful Light$mart Program, BEN is working with businesses in Hume to assist them to retrofit with more energy efficient lighting in conjunction with respected lighting practitioners. The process involves:

A simple audit of your business to determine the number of lights and their power consumption

Accessing your electricity bills to determine your costs so that we can accurately measure your energy, greenhouse emissions, financial savings and payback period

To assist businesses to go ahead with an energy efficient lighting retrofit, Hume Council will contribute a subsidy based on the number and type of lights involved.

For more information or to participate in the Hume Light$mart program, please contact 9205 2273.

GreenPower your business

Does your business invest in GreenPower? GreenPower provides businesses and other organisations with a proactive way of reducing their greenhouse gas emissions and lessening their impact on the environment. Businesses that purchase GreenPower are also helping to drive renewable energy investment in Australia above and beyond mandatory government requirements, helping to create jobs in the Australian renewable energy sector and supporting local suppliers who provide services to accredited generators. GreenPowering your business is easy. You don't need to change your electricity supplier or your existing electricity contract and you will still get the same reliability of supply.

All you have to do is call your current electricity supplier using the customer service number on your electricity bill and ask to purchase an accredited GreenPower product.

Alternatively, you may want to shop around the other electricity retailers to get the best GreenPower deal for your business' needs, or purchase GreenPower through a decoupled GreenPower Provider. Each GreenPower Provider will have their own name for the accredited product they sell, such as ‘GreenLiving’ or ‘GreenEarth’, and have different options for the percentage of GreenPower you can purchase.

Since 2009, Greenpowered businesses have saved more than 5.3 million tonnes of greenhouse gas from going into our atmosphere, and have been responsible for investing more than $300 million back into Australia's renewable energy sector.

ASPIRE- Advisory System for Processing, Innovation and Resource Exchange

ASPIRE is a 'proof of concept' project that has been developed in response to manufacturing companies talking to their local councils about waste disposal costs, particularly those associated with increasing landfill prices. This collaborative project focuses on the development and deployment of an ICT system that will assist the efforts of businesses and councils to reduce their operating costs, and improve the economic development outcomes of a region.

Hume Council is collaborating with Kingston, Knox and Dandenong Councils, CSIRO and AiGroup on the project, which is funded by the Department of State Development and Business Innovation.

BEN Library

The following resources are available to BEN members for one month loan from the BEN Library. A total of three items are available for loan at any one time. There is no cost to borrow items, however you will need to return them in person or via post to: